Tribal Resurgence
by Casino Nights
Summary: A devastating attack from Eggman leaves the Sonic crew both injured and emotionally scarred. What they really didn't need was another obstacle suddenly in their way... What exactly will become of this, and how exactly will this pose a serious threat to life on Mobius? Join the team as they are thrown, kicking and screaming, into the middle of a very unfamiliar situation.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello fellow authors! Here is the first chapter of a Sonic fic I'm writing. Funnily enough, this fic is the product of three years' worth of planning, scrapping, writing and re-writing. Feel free to leave feedback via a review or a PM or whatever, but I'm not forcing you. Anyway, enjoy! :D - CN**

Disclaimer- I don't own the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise or any of the characters associated with it.

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**Chapter 1**

Angel Island. One of Mobius' most sacred and historic land masses. The hazy morning sun had just risen, signalling the start of a new day, and its beams had reached almost every inch of it. The old Echidna monuments and buildings were suddenly bathed in the light, and atop the most central of them, the Master Emerald was set. It gave off a warm green glow as it pulsated, the feral birds in the trees being quite alarmed and taking off, flying far away from the gem.

In the far distance, around a mile from the island was a bright red and white plane soaring through the sky. The word 'SONIC' was printed in bold on the side of it, and a little rust was visible in places, although that had been covered up by more red paint. Sitting in the pilot's seat was a young yellow-furred Mobian with a determined, but slightly worried look on his face. Too much was racing through his mind at the moment... The wind whipping at his exposed face and ears contrasted this greatly, as it looked as if someone had held a hairdryer inches from his nose. Proudly standing on the left wing was another Mobian, who had just looked over at his fox friend and had began to laugh, unable to stop himself from stomping his feet on the metal below him. Although, he was quick to stop after he saw the other Mobian looking at him with confusion. There was a huge difference in their fur length, so to the yellow fox, the hedgehog beside him looked almost completely fine. He was still pretty miffed about what he was laughing at, that was, until the blue one spoke.

"Having a bad fur day, are you, Tails?" The hedgehog asked, forming a toothy grin.

The fox, realising what he meant, slid a gloved hand up to his face and touched his cheek, feeling the fur slapping against it. _I didn't think the wind affected me that much... _He thought, surprised.

"Well, Sonic," He said back in a forced joking manner, "At least I'm warmer than you!"

"True, but that isn't a good look. What if you got stuck like that? We'd have to shave it all off!" Sonic chuckled as Tails broke into a smile.

The kit remained focused on his pilot work and so gave a short response, "Yeah... I don't know what we'd do then. Maybe shave yours off to compensate?"

After sharing another quick chuckle, the pair fell silent, and Tails' solemn expression showed more and more through his forced smile. Sonic then turned his attention to the Island, which was looming ahead of them. He was immediately reminded of why they were coming here, and although it was important matter, the blue speedster seemed to be shaking the bad feelings off.

As they reached the edge of the Island, a muffled but very low-pitched droning noise reached his ears from behind them. This made both of them shudder, and Tails, now slightly paranoid, began to increase instead of decrease the speed of the plane as they were coming in to land. He released the wheels from underneath it and braced himself. There wasn't much time to circle the Island until they found a perfect landing spot, so the lumpy grass plain ahead would have to do.

Not too far away from the landing site was a red echidna, lying on his side. The woven hammock he was resting on blew sideward a little as the red vehicle flew past, making his long dreads fly up into the air momentarily. He was in a deep sleep, and didn't take too kindly to being rudely awoken to the all-too-familiar sound of his friend's plane. Scowling, he raised his head to see it bounce dangerously along the ground before coming to a screeching halt. The two occupants jumped out of the plane and while one sprinted back through the overgrown foliage, the other twisted his namesakes and flew just behind.

Rocketing towards the echidna, Tails called, "Knuckles! Eggman's coming this way and he's after the Emeralds!"

The fox let himself drop right next to him, the hedgehog coming in on the other side. The words created an enraged look on Knuckles' face, but before he could speak Sonic broke in to give the more complete story. "We were flying back to the Mystic Ruins, but then he had to show up behind us, and that took us off guard. So we had to make an emergency detour so Tails' workshop didn't get bombed, and that led us to come out here. We were trying to fight him off over the sea, but as much as I hate to admit it Egghead had the upper hand, 'cause he knows I can't swim. Then he gave the whole 'Give me the Emeralds' speech, and 'cause we knew where he would be going we jacked it outta there to warn you first. Besides, now we can kick his butt on land!"

He cracked his knuckles before Knuckles finally spoke, his increasing rage apparent in his tone of voice, "He's coming here? Now? Why didn't you tell me before?"

The echidna stood up tall in front of the duo, his purple eyes wild with anger. Any attempt of looking intimidating must have worked because Tails now looked even more worried and had quickly moved back a couple of steps. The fox began nervously, pointing to his wrist, "We couldn't, because... well... you never wear your wrist communicator. We would have been able to make a call immediately and make a plan, too, in advance as soon as Eggman found us."

"And it's not like you actually have a landline phone here..." Sonic said, knowing full well there was no electricity to be found on the Island, save for Knuckles' discarded communicator.

Knuckles was nearly shaking in fury now, and shouted, "We don't have _time _for this! He might be there by now, and all you're doing is stalling me!"

Shocked at his hot-headed friend's sudden outburst, Sonic took no time in letting the echidna lumber past him who was running as fast as he could towards the shrine. Tails, still recovering from their sudden interrogation, had jumped a foot in the air and said, "I'm s-sorry! We were just heading over there n-"

The young vulpine was interrupted by a loud, megaphone-amplified, all-too-familiar voice, and the deafening sound of an aircraft's rockets as one flew closer to the duo. Amidst all the talking, Eggman had caught up with them...


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi, everyone! I'm back again with the next chapter. I'll try to keep a regular update schedule, but I might not stick to it. Anyway, away with the negatives- on with the story! - CN**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Sonic the Hedgehog copyrighted material.**

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**Chapter 2**

The mad scientist stepped out of the main body of the black airship, with his insignia printed all over it. The sides, the windows, even the propellers had small stamps of his overly-grinning face. The metal on that, unlike the slightly rusted material on the Mobian duo's plane, was sleek and shiny, the morning sunlight reflecting off of it and onto the surrounding land. It also pierced the eyes of the Mobians, who had to squint and hold their hands above their eyes to see what was going on. Eggman had walked onto a kind of balcony protruding from the front so that he could see the two Mobians down below.

As he was sure they wouldn't be able to hear him from there, he brought out a large megaphone and said, "Ah, Sonic. The blue rat who was too cowardly to put up a fight in the air... I really did think you'd be stronger than that. Disappointing, really..."

Sonic immediately tried to counteract this, "You're one to talk! What about all the times you've had to flee from us, Eggbreath?"

'Eggbreath' looked down at the floor before recovering and saying angrily with a reddened face, "N-never mind that! You can't run from me here again, hedgehog- this Island's too small for that and you know it!"

Tails had to put his remaining free hand up to his mouth to prevent a loud belly laugh from bursting out. However, a definite giggle still reached the hairy ears of the scientist, who then turned on the fox. Jerking his head towards the source of the sound, he taunted, "Oh, and look at _this_! The pathetic yellow furball who follows you around like a dog to its master."

The fox growled, before Eggman continued, smirking, "Calm, boy!"

"We're just gonna beat you again, Egghead. Why do you still bother?" Sonic retorted, defending Tails. "You're not doing anything except giving us a holiday every few weeks, getting to travel to tons of different Zones to take you down without even breaking a sweat."

"Oh but Sonic, I don't think so. Think of all the hours, days and weeks in your lifetime you've wasted trying to find me when you could just give in and let me take over. The Roboticizer isn't as painful as the media advertises it. You won't feel a thing!" He laughed loudly at his own joke.

"Yeah, but think of all the hours, days and weeks in your lifetime _you've _wasted sitting on your butt all day building huge hunks of junk when you could be down at the gym!"

Frustrated by Sonic's comment, Eggman turned up the volume on the megaphone all the way and shouted, "ENOUGH!"

His booming amplified voice quickly scared away all of the remaining birds in the trees around them, creating an eerie silence after he had spoken. However, it was quickly broken by the sound of the scientist walking over the metallic floor of the balcony, creating clangs with each step. He kept walking until he had reached a raised platform, and spoke again in a proud tone, "Over the years of fighting you, hedgehog, I have begun to realise something. Whereas my robots prove to easily capture and convert the majority of Mobians they find into one of their own, you and your friends seem to be special cases.

"As you know you pose the biggest threat to my plans, and so I must attempt to dispose of you first. However, as it has been more and more difficult to try and do that due to you getting older and finding even more abilities to use against me in the process, I found myself asking whether I should... change my tactics. And today, I think it is time to finally put them into practice. I give you... the Egg Cannon!"

Sonic whispered to Tails, "That has to be the stupidest name for one of his mechs yet!"

"I heard that, hedgehog! This is not a mech!" Eggman spat, "This is not a robot! This is a high-pressure barrel containing a collection of highly fragile explosives that will blow you to bits upon contact!"

To demonstrate this, the madman fired one of them over their heads where it landed deep into the forest. A monotone voice droned from inside the mechanism, "_Three explosives remaining." _The two Mobians turned and looked towards the path of its descent, worried about what was going to happen. Nothing seemed to happen at first, and so Sonic said, "Some powerful explosives, huh? Man, I could do with some of those to kill the feral mice in my hou-"

Then, it exploded.

A burst of fire ballooned out in all directions, and the resulting gush of wind caused all the trees within a thirty-metre radius to become charred, losing all of their leaves, before falling to the floor uprooted. Debris from the ground was thrown up into the air, creating a dust cloud in its wake. The two Mobians had to shield their eyes at it before it had finished, and when it finally did, a large crater was visible in the ground, still smoking. They were both left with their mouths wide open, and a shroud of worry and fear fell over them.

As they were left speechless, the doctor thought it was the right time to resume his speech. "So now, I ask of you, as I have done many a time before, please hand over the Chaos Emeralds immediately, for I know that they are on this Island. You know what the consequences will be." He said darkly.

Tails was close to panicking and looked over at Sonic pleadingly, hoping for him to make a decision. The hedgehog, although realising the amount of pressure he was under, tried to shake it off as usual. He gave a short, firm, one-word answer.

"No." He stood rooted to the spot, glaring up at the scientist. Tails looked half-shocked but he knew that that was the only answer the two of them were ever going to give him.

Eggman stared down back at him coldly. "I figured that you would say that... Say, how much do you care for your echidna friend?" While he had been talking, his hands had been configuring the cannon's trajectory to aim directly where the echidna had been standing next to the shrine in a battle stance. Knuckles was unaware of all of this as he was too far away to hear the explosion, and the trees surrounding the area blocked the arrival of the airship from his view.

The sound of the cannon charging up again was enough to set the hedgehog off. "You wouldn't dare..." Sonic said, equally as shocked as Tails now.

He just shook his head in response. "You never learned to think before you speak, rat."

There was another moment's silence before the duo rushed off towards the shrine- and Eggman slammed his fist down onto the button, firing the bomb.


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry for the week-long wait, but I've been busy with a lot of schoolwork recently... I hope you enjoy this chapter, regardless! :D - CN**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Sonic franchise or anything else associated with it. **

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**Chapter 3**

Knuckles was confused. The environment around him was still, and no sounds could be heard, save for his heavy breathing and the constant hum of the Master Emerald. As the echidna stood beside the gigantic gem, his eyes constantly moved back and forth, scanning the surrounding land for any sign of Eggman. However, so far, he hadn't heard anything.

_Sonic and Tails said he'd be here.. Where is he? _Knuckles asked himself. He looked up at the azure sky and sighed. _They better not have tricked me..._

His attention was then drawn towards the large amount of Flickies flying above him, and he said out loud, "It isn't time for them to migrate... Something must have scared them! If Sonic's been shaking the trees again I swear I'll break his nose! I have a duty to protect this Island, and punish everyone who thinks they can do what they like!"

Knuckles banged his fists together and took to a battle stance, waiting for the blue hedgehog to jump out of the brush saying, "You don't look so good, Knux... Maybe all that solitude's started to mess with your head!", like he always did when he knew that Knuckles was angry with him. But he didn't see anything.

"Where are they all?!" He shouted, his voice echoing. Now equally as frustrated as he was confused, he kicked a pebble off the top of the shrine and watched as it bounced down the stone steps. Just then, his question seemed to be answered as he heard a metallic, monotone voice drone, "_Two explosives remaining."_

Meanwhile, the other two Mobians were soon to arrive at the shrine, dashing through the trees and shrubbery as the ominous sound of the Egg Bomb whistling through the air filled their ears. There was no time to shield them from the ear-piercing noise, however, as their main priority was to get to the shrine before the bomb did.

Sonic sprinted through the undergrowth tirelessly, various twigs snapping under his feet as he ran, the world a blur now in his eyes. Every now and again he would wince or yelp in pain as brambles scratched his exposed legs, but he pressed on. Tails was trying as hard as he could to keep up with his companion, pushing his namesakes to the limit as he flew through the sky. Unfortunately, unlike Sonic, Tails did not have near-unlimited stamina, and it was taking a lot out of him to move at this sort of speed in the air for this long, as the shrine was over two miles away from the spot where they encountered Eggman. He simply didn't have much energy left for flying, let alone continuously dodging the countless number of trees and Flickies in the sky, which were coming his way. But this didn't stop him from trying.

The duo didn't speak to each other at all while they were doing this. Their minds were set on ensuring that Knuckles was safely out of the way before the bomb inevitably hit, for they knew that they couldn't do anything to stop it. They didn't need any distractions.

After what seemed like an eternity, they reached a clearing in the woods, a beaten path leading directly towards the shrine and the surrounding monuments. They could see the large stone steps leading up to the platform where the Master Emerald resided- and the red figure close by. There was no time to waste by gazing in awe at the monuments, as they did make for a rather picturesque scene. Getting closer and closer, Sonic decided that it was time to take action. Cupping his gloved hands around his mouth, he yelled out, "Knuckles! RUN!"

Turning around at the sound of Sonic's voice from down below, Knuckles shouted back at him, not seeing the bomb as it was far behind the two, "Now is _not _the time for a race, Sonic! Eggman could attack at any second!" _What is he thinking? _He thought, before he noticed just how cut up Sonic's legs were, and how worn out Tails seemed to be. _Wait, they wouldn't run that fast and carelessly just to challenge me to a race..._

However, the echidna quickly quietened down as he saw what was following the Mobians across the forest, and instantly knew why Sonic was telling him to retreat. The bomb fired from the cannon was getting closer to him by the second, and the grinning insignia on the side of it told him everything he needed to know. For a second he stood frozen on the spot, shocked by the sight. "It's going to hit the shrine!" He said to himself out loud. "If this shatters the Master Emerald..." He murmured, cursing Eggman's real name under his breath.

Realising that there was nothing else to do except follow the hedgehog's orders, he ran as fast as he could across the cracked and aged stone tablets on the shrine floor. Quickly preparing himself, Knuckles leapt off of the top of the building and began to glide away from it. He tried to make himself as streamlined as possible in the air in order to get out of the bomb's projected explosive range faster, hoping to Chaos that he'd make it in time.

Tails, unable to fly any longer out of tiredness, dropped onto the ground a good distance away from the shrine with Sonic at his side. His eyes were wide with fear as he watched Knuckles move in the opposite direction. _What can we do? _He thought, _We won't be able to stop the bomb from exploding, but..._ Suddenly, an idea formed in his mind. Lightening up slightly but not taking his eyes off of Knuckles, he explained to Sonic, "The Egg Cannon only has two bombs left in it, and from what I've seen they don't have a homing device built in. This means that if we trick Eggman into firing the remaining bombs somewhere where they won't harm anything, he'll have wasted them so we can set to work on destroying the airship."

Sonic was broken out of a trance-like state when Tails finally spoke to him, as he too was transfixed on watching the flight path of his hot-headed friend. He took the plan into consideration for a few seconds before responding, "Y'know, Tails, that just might work. If they're not heat-seeking it means... Knux has nothing to worry about!" His face lit up as he said this, now feeling much better about the situation.

Knuckles had 'flown' so far away from the shrine that the ground was coming up to him. He braced himself as he let his legs fall down beneath him, touching down and continuing into a jog. Looking behind his shoulder momentarily, the echidna saw that the bomb had almost hit the ground- Thankfully, nowhere near him or the Master Emerald. He breathed a sigh of relief, content for a moment before noticing where the bomb was going to land instead.

Knuckles barely had time to take cover as the bomb exploded, sending a powerful shockwave of wind and heat that ruffled his dreads and caused a deafening noise. The resulting smoke cloud obscured the entire shrine from the trio's view, and when it had cleared...

"Thank you for making this so easy for me, you pests!" Eggman's voice echoed around them, "Or should I be thanking myself?"

A large part of the stairway had been completely destroyed, leaving a large gap between the first few and last few steps. That wasn't the only thing that shocked them all. Moving over the now unreachable Master Emerald was Eggman's airship, a large claw locking on to it...

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**So, what did you think? Leave a review if you feel like it, but I'm not forcing you. I don't mind flames because there's always room to improve in someone's writing style! The next chapter should take around a week to be fully written and released. See you next chapter! :D**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello again! It looks like I've managed to keep to my original schedule so far... I'll try to keep it up! I hope you enjoy reading this chapter! :) - CN**

Disclaimer- I don't own the Sonic franchise or anything that relates to it.

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**Chapter 4**

The three Mobians stood in shock for a brief moment as they saw the Master Emerald being held in place by the claw, still in its crumbling stone stand. It was as if the mad scientist up above was teasing them. He was still standing on the great metal podium protruding from the balcony with one finger playfully resting lightly on the Egg Cannon's 'FIRE' button. Eggman looked at their miserable expressions and began to laugh loudly, echoing through the plains surrounding them. He took the longest stare at Sonic, the tired state of the blue hedgehog surprising him. It wasn't long before he was grinning manically when he saw the many deep gashes in his legs.

"What are you going to do about this one, Sonic?" He asked rhetorically, "The usual run, jump and spin, or will you for once in your life be forced to sit this one out, as it were?"

Sonic was left speechless, as there was no way he would be able to reach the ship due to its relatively high altitude. Even if he had been able to, his shins had been bleeding heavily, the open cuts now bringing so much pain to the usually laidback hedgehog that he was finding it hard to think straight, which would then affect his judgement of distance. Sonic knew that, with Eggman's new weapon, any miscalculation he made could be fatal. But he also knew that there were three of them there, and that if they brought their strengths together they might just make it. He looked down at his adopted brother and thought to himself, _I don't even need to use my legs. Tails can fly me up there! _

However, Tails was in no position to fly. Glancing up at Sonic, he knew what he was thinking and shook his head slightly, which caused the hedgehog to frown. His namesakes were aching terribly after his sudden and incredibly long flight towards the shrine. He could barely move them properly because of the strain he had put on them, and this frustrated him a lot, for the fox couldn't do much to fight airborne enemies without the use of his twin tails. For now, instead of them waving casually behind him, they hung limply at his sides. All he could do was try to formulate a plan of action in his head very quickly, but with the best friends both injured it eliminated almost all of the possibilities he was coming up with on the spot. Desperately, but unnoticed by the doctor, they both turned their heads towards Knuckles.

Meanwhile, back on the airship balcony, Eggman was in extremely good spirits. One hand twirled his bushy moustache while the other hand was dancing on the trigger. He was contemplating releasing the bombs now and killing the hedgehog and fox instantly, but he ultimately decided against it. _No!_,He thought to himself, _Let's have some fun with them first._ He had found the rare opportunity to do and say whatever he wanted to and he was going to make the most of it.

Still grinning, he taunted, "It looks like the blue rat has finally learned when to shut up! Oh, this is a _miraculous _turn of events... And I have you in just the position I want you in, too!"

Knuckles, far off to the side of the shrine and well away from Sonic, Tails, and Eggman, was too livid to notice that the other Mobians were staring at him pleadingly. _There's no way he's getting off this Island with the Master Emerald! If he even lifts it out of the stand, we will all fall into the sea! _Knuckles thought angrily, clenching his fists. Seeing an opportunity to attack the mad inventor, as the obese man himself was busying himself in humiliating his friends, the echidna began to form a very rough plan in his mind.

Sonic shot back a dirty look, and said to Eggman, "If you have got us in the right position, then why aren't we dead yet?"

"Well, to be blunt, hedgehog, I'm giving you one last chance here. Surrender and hand me the Emeralds, or Angel Island will fall! A simple choice- Yes, or No? Either way, I'll get what I want! I'm a genius!"

Eggman, having planned this event for weeks in advance, was overjoyed to see it finally paying off. Not only did he have them trapped, but Sonic was actually showing signs of weakness... To emphasise how much of an advantage he had over the Mobians, he pressed another button near to the one that would kill them instantly if pressed. Immediately, a comfy-looking recliner chair folded out from near his podium, and he sat back on it, grinning all the time. As a servant droid trundled out of the airship and onto the balcony, giving the doctor an ice-cold glass of water, he said to them, "As you prove no threat to me, I might as well get comfortable while waiting for an answer. So, what will you choose?"

Tails, out of the corner of his eye, saw Knuckles run towards a nearby tall tree that was behind the airship, outside Eggman's field of view, and use his spiked fists to climb to the top with ease. Not long after, Sonic discreetly turned to see what his adopted brother was looking at and suddenly felt a lot better. _Whew! I was scared for a second that we'd have to grab Knuckles' attention instead, and that probably would've blown his cover... _The hedgehog that the echidna was attempting to stop the doctor by himself, they both knew that now the only thing they could do was try to stall giving an answer to him for as long as possible.

The young fox gulped and ruffled the fur back of his head a little with one hand, while his brother just stared at his leg wounds, now bleeding a lot less than they were earlier. Sonic was thankful that his wounds always healed relatively fast due to the regular influx of Chaos energy that coursed through him every time he used the Emeralds. Soon, they will have turned into scabs and he would be able to run again, but for now, for his own convenience and time-wasting purposes, he had taken a couple of large leaves off of the ground and tied them around his shins, preventing the blood from escaping. He couldn't help but grin when he looked back up to see 'Eggbreath's' confused face.

"Well, rat? Have you decided yet?" inquired Eggman, demanding a response.

Meanwhile, Knuckles had carried out the first part of his plan. Waiting for the wind to blow in the right direction first, Knuckles stood atop the redwood tree which gave him a rather large view of the surrounding plains. This also made him feel more calm and relaxed for a few seconds. He thought, _No matter how many times I see it, I will never cease to be amazed at the beauty of the Island... _ It also gave him a direct view of Eggman's airship from above, and this steered his thoughts back onto the plan, making him snarl. After seeing that the doctor was distracted and looking the other way, he began to glide in the air for the second time that day- but this time, his aim wasn't to get away from Eggman's airship, but to land on top of it.

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**Thanks to The Mirror's Wish (for reviewing and following), Cooldude1453 (for favouriting, reviewing and following), Shadouge baby (for following), 56th Reg. Corporal Epps Hande (for reviewing), and Beat the Fox (for following)! Bye for now, see you next chapter!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi everyone! I'm back with the fifth chapter. Here, things begin to get even more serious... Enjoy! :D - CN**

**Disclaimer- I don't own the Sonic franchise or anything else relating to ****it.**

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**Chapter 5**

The red echidna didn't want to waste any time, and so he tried to glide as fast as he could towards the airship before Eggman had a chance to kill his friends. After dodging a few Flickies in mid-air, which annoyed him greatly as the encounters only slowed him down, he found that he had almost reached the back of the airship. The jet-black vehicle looked very intricate in design, with many large propellers on the sides and the bottom supporting it. There were also many, seemingly pointless, windows everywhere on its structure. _Why would he even want that amount of windows if he's the only one in there? If I didn't have to save my friends first, I'd smash them all! _He thought to himself angrily. However, they were also tinted black allowing for no-one to be able to see what was inside of it... As much as he hated to admit it, the whole thing intimidated him.

Cautiously, he glided over one of the outside walkways near the back of the airship and dropped down onto it, hoping that the Doctor didn't hear him. Who knows what sensory amplifiers the mad scientist could have implemented? Unfortunately for the echidna, he was soon to find out. Just when he thought that he was safe, what Knuckles heard next made him freeze.

_ALERT- FOREIGN FOOTPRINTS DETECTED. INTRUDER ON BOARD._

The loud, monotonous voice of the security system repeated the words over and over again while a large siren blared to accompany it. The echidna cursed himself for not thinking the plan through before he began to realise that, although there could be a lot of robots on board now heading his way, he could actually use this to his advantage. If Eggman decided to come after him himself then all he would have to do is run around him and try to disable the cannon, or, in other words, pound the control panel to bits. Knuckles just hoped that doing that wouldn't be easier said than done.

As if on cue, back at the front of the ship, the sudden sounding of the security breach alarm had startled Eggman. It broke the sadistic smile on his face towards Sonic and Tails in front of him and turned it into a stone-cold look of deep hatred. He dropped his cup, the glass shattering all over the floor which prompted the same servant droid to come back outside to clean up the mess, and with the same hand he began to push a variety of different buttons which immediately deployed seven mechs on the airship to take after the intruder. Obviously, Eggman didn't want anyone to mess up his perfect plan and so before even checking to see who it was he tried to get the threat eliminated as soon as possible. After he had done this, the mad scientist pressed another button that brought out a security camera footage display screen and he didn't need to look at it for five seconds before realising who the potential plan-wrecker was.

Deep inside the airship, the seven robots were contained in metal cylinders, with a glass tube connecting to the back of each one. Eggman had actually programmed the mechs to be released in a staggered order, meaning that although all of them were activated at that time, only one of the cylinders opened to let the dangerous and menacing robot inside of it loose. Its glowing red eyes scanned the area for a brief moment, checking for any Mobians on board, before finding the echidna through heat vision and giving chase.

He finally spoke, pointing a sausage-shaped finger in the two Mobians' direction, "You tried to _trick_ me, didn't you? Trying to distract me so that your brain-dead anger-driven acquaintance could try to stop me... I hate to say it, but your efforts are in vain. As I am speaking, seven of my finest and most advanced creations are heading towards him and they will _not _be damaged, let alone destroyed, very easily."

Sonic, feeling relieved that he had an actual chance to talk back in this situation, said a little nervously, "I don't know, Eggman..." He put one hand on his chin, "Have you forgotten just how strong Knuckles is? He'll destroy 'em in seconds!"

Although the blue hedgehog himself had a recurring feeling of slight doubt about Knuckles' success because he hadn't actually seen what the mechs looked like, he needed to at least behave optimistically. Not just for keeping his laidback persona apparent, but for Tails' wellbeing- he could only imagine the fear that the kit was experiencing at this time.

His performance must have been convincing because Tails chimed in afterwards, "Y...Yeah! Sonic's right!"

Knowing that Sonic was casually talking back to the doctor like he had done in all their previous confrontations, regardless of the current situation, the young fox felt a lot more confident. This feeling was also enhanced by the fact that over the course of the other two's conversation and them both standing still for what seemed like an eternity, the pain was slowly ebbing away from his twin tails. It wouldn't be too long before he was able to move and fly with them again, as he had only tired them out and not injured them in any other way.

Eggman, now feeling more infuriated, spat back, "Let me rephrase that, pests! The robots in question are built to have _impenetrable _armour covering the entirety of their bodies. No weak spots, no flaws, NOTHING! I kept them stored on this ship for later use, but as your friend has decided to try and mess everything up I thought that now would be a good time to test them out. I built them with the intention of the three of you fighting them, so I could unveil something else to give you an even harder time. As I said earlier, I've changed my tactics...

He then said, putting his arm down as he gradually calmed down himself, "And now Knuckles will have to fight them off on his own? Oh, dear..."

The madman twisted the security footage screen around so the two Mobians could see the large mech rushing through the dark depths of the airship's interior in the direction of the, again, unsuspecting echidna on the outside walkway. He laughed as he saw their briefly hopeful expressions quickly sink back down to the way that they were before and their ears droop slightly.

The echidna in question, only really having outlined a vague goal, didn't know exactly how he was going to stop Eggman. Yes, he knew that he had to smash the control panel to disable the cannon, but he didn't know what lurked inside the airship, he didn't know what Eggman was sending his way and he had no idea how to get to the control panel in the first place. The narrow walkway he was standing on reached dead ends on both sides of the airship- its only purpose was to serve as another balcony... meaning that the only way he was going to get anywhere near the front of the ship was to actually go inside it.

Feeling extremely under pressure, he ran towards the heavy wooden door in the centre of the balcony and began to pummel it. A huge hole was left where he had first punched it, with sharp pieces of wood left around the outside of it. Smirking, he punched it two more times to create a hole big enough for him to walk through before he did so. What lay before his eyes was a large, empty, humid room which cast an eerie effect. However, there were many walls blocking parts of it off and creating other smaller ones. This forced him to follow a certain path through the airship's corridors, constantly looking behind him for any possible threats.

Eggman himself was watching the whole thing unfold on the security screen and was treating it as if it was some poorly-written action movie. He felt that he had no reason to be intimidated by the echidna's actions at all, as the mechs were going to catch up with him very soon. "Sonic, Tails, you have no _idea_ how much I'm enjoying watching this! Are you not entertained?"

Obviously, the two Mobians' reactions to the events that were unfolding were a lot different from the doctor's. They were both in fear for Knuckles' life, too focused on the screen to respond to Eggman's rhetorical question. However, the saddened looks on their faces told him all that he needed to know, causing him to start laughing again.

Once Knuckles had made it around halfway through the ship, occasionally having to stop to punch down another door for him to progress, he heard a low rattling sound coming from one of the rooms before the first of the mechs burst through the wall, immediately finding its target. It was at least six feet high, almost twice the height of the Mobian, and was mainly humanoid in structure. Two large arms protruded from its sides, however it didn't have legs. They were replaced by the type of wheel tracks that are often found on tanks, enabling it to move a lot faster over any terrain. The echidna was shocked to say the least, but still instinctively took up a battle stance in front of it.

He spoke gruffly to himself, "I _knew _that Eggman would try something like this, but that's not going to stop me!"

Shouting as he did it, he swung his fist towards the robot- and was taken aback as the machine reached out with one of its abnormally long arms and grabbed it. He tried to pull his hand out of it, but to no avail. Then, without warning, the robot began to continually tighten its grip around Knuckles' fist, and did not stop. Knuckles found himself screaming in agony as the robot had crushed his hand- literally. Many cracking sounds were heard as blood began to soak through his gloves, confirming this. Once the robot had finished applying the pressure, it threw Knuckles, in his panicked state, against the wall, letting him slide down unconscious...

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**Thanks again to The Mirror's Wish for reviewing, and Aero'Phoenix for reviewing every chapter I've written so far! Thanks for the feedback! Also, I'm taking your advice and have tried to make this chapter a lot longer than the others and will continue to try and keep this practice up. Bye for now, see you next chapter! **


	6. Chapter 6

**I'm sorry for not updating sooner, but I've been having severe writer's block with this story. I've had many different ideas about where to take the storyline (I barely had an idea for one when I started!), and this relatively short chapter shows this. It's been cut off before where the main plot begins because I had simply no idea what to do next... But at least it's something. As well as this, I have lots of exams coming up and my laptop's been having problems so that's delayed my update schedule significantly. I promise I HAVEN'T given up on it but I probably won't release another chapter on this story for a while until I've either decided on one story idea or try to split it into multiple endings as such. In the meantime, I'll try as hard as I can to sort it out and also think up separate stories, oneshots and such to fill the gap. :) - CN**

**Disclaimer- I don't own any Sonic characters in this fanfiction, they all belong to Sega.**

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**Chapter 6**

"NO!" The two Mobians shouted simultaneously upon seeing what happened to Knuckles.

Sonic couldn't even believe that this was happening. A variety of negative emotions were surging through him as he kept his horrified gaze onto the small screen. _I don't understand... Why the hell would Eggman do this all of a sudden...? _Finally feeling the severity of the situation hit him, he slowly brought his hands up to his face and actually sat down on the dusty patch of dirt beneath him, his fragile ego performance now shattered by the unfolding events. The hedgehog looked down at the floor in the gaps between his fingers and let out a long, wavering sigh of defeat.

Tails was very close to crying, his small body shaking all over as if a cold, harsh gust of wind had just passed. Being almost half Sonic's age, the young kit could not take emotional events such as this one nearly as well as his brother could. The fact that Tails had a genius IQ level didn't affect his ability to handle things at all. It crushed him inside to see him break down like this, and the fact that Knuckles' life was on the line made matters even worse for the fox.

Eggman was feeling the exact opposite, and paid almost no attention to Sonic nor Tails as he was so engrossed by the euphoria severely injuring one of his enemies had given him. He had waited so long for this moment, and the achievement of being able to see his hard work finally paying off was incredibly exciting and relieving for him. He cried, "My inventions are _finally _hindering the rats' abilities, after all these years! Oh, this calls for a celebration... But not now." His voice took on a darker tone. "My goal has not yet been achieved."

After the doctor pressed another button on the podium, the deadly robot in the depths of the airship that had previously been slowly edging back towards Knuckles' unconscious body for sadistic effect stopped in its tracks. As soon as the radio signal reached it, it instead grasped him by his torso and began to move slowly towards its creator through the bowels of the ship. The knocked out echidna hung limply in its arms, the many wounds on his injured hand now creating a sickly trail of blood behind them on the floor.

"Hmm... I think that the stakes have been raised by a considerable amount." Eggman said, putting a hand around his chin as he tracked the mech's progress, "You undoubtedly know why by now, but now that I have his body in my possession, it's time to make one last trade."

The hedgehog below him had felt this coming since he saw Knuckles get knocked out, and so buried his head further into his hands. As much as Sonic wanted the situation to be resolved as it normally did, with Eggman speeding away with his inventions destroyed while all the surrounding Mobians cheering for the heroes and laughing at the only villain, that dream seemed less and less of a reality. His ears had drooped further down and, other than his chest rising as he took deep and near-raspy breaths, he sat motionless. Tails had now sat beside him, looking equally as distraught, with his bright blue eyes that had been filled with liveliness less than half an hour ago now looking bleak and almost grey in colour. He had brought his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them tightly. The dust from the floor had quickly become stuck in his fur, but he was too upset to care. The fox couldn't help himself from thinking, _He's going to kill Knuckles... _while sniffling almost uncontrollably.

However, Sonic knew that Eggman would want an answer from him, and although the situation seemed awful he began to at least try to get his spirits up. He distracted himself from thinking about their seemingly inevitable fate, and a half-hearted plan that he knew wouldn't work, long enough for him to murmur to the doctor, "What is it?"

Barely hearing the hedgehog speak, and out of cruelty, Eggman cupped a hand around his ear and swivelled it in the Mobian's direction. He spoke mockingly, "What was that, hedgehog? I couldn't quite hear you there!"

More solemnly than before, Sonic replied, "...What are you going to do?"

The doctor shook his head. "You _know _what I'm going to say to you, Sonic. If you really didn't you wouldn't be making such a performance right now!"

Just after Eggman had finished speaking, the heavy metal airship door behind him burst open. The robot had reached its destination, and trudged more slowly towards the doctor, stopping at his side. Knuckles was still dangling from its thick arms, his mouth open and slightly drooling, looking considerably paler than usual. The rapid blood loss must have caused this change in complexion, and for further proof almost the entirety of the robot's wheel track was covered in blood.

Turning around to see the mech, acting as if he hadn't heard it, Eggman exclaimed, "Ah, Just in time! I propose you _this, _you two..."

The doctor flicked a switch in the podium and the robot dropped the dazed echidna onto the cold metal floor of the airship balcony. It then lugged one of its large fists into the air, adjusting it over the body, seemingly about to strike...

"Either you give me the Emeralds... Or Knuckles dies."

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**Thanks to Amity Hue for giving me good advice in review form with this story (I've ironed out most of the flaws now. :)), and Wind the Hedgehog 11 for favouriting and reviewing as well. In answer to your review, OC inclusion is another thing I've been wondering about, but have been weighing up the problems and the up-sides that will bring. For now, I'm leaning away from the idea. Don't worry, though, I might make a fic with open OC slots later down the line. See you next chapter! :D**


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